The present invention relates to apparatus for feeding and bending lug strips which extend around a supporting rod and are attached to seed plates in electrolytic refining plants.
By way of the apparatus of the invention lug strips are fed to a working station where they are bent around a supporting rod in preparation for being fixed, as by rivetting, for example, to an edge region of a seed plate.
In electrolytic refining plants seed plates are produced by a suitable machine for the purpose of electrolysis, these seed plates being carried by supporting rods usually by way of so-called lug loops. These lug loops are formed by bending elongated lug strips around the supporting rod or an auxiliary rod and rivetting the bent lug strip to an edge region of the seed plate.
According to known constructions the lug strip is freely dropped into a bending position and then bent by way of suitable separate bending implements. Such known constructions have a number of drawbacks. In the first place, these known structures are relatively complex and the operations require a number of consecutive steps with the result that there is a great likelihood of trouble with these known constructions. In addition, the lug strips are made of a seed plate having a thin margin while also having a great length, so that these strips become undesirably curved or bent upon impact at the termination of their free fall.
It has also been observed that there is a considerable inaccuracy with respect to the attachment of the conventional lug strip to the edge region of a seed plate, as a result of the considerable free space which the free dropping requires.
Moreover, the known structures are dependent upon a particular sequence in which the seed plates and supporting rods are conveyed, so that prior art constructions are only suitable for use in connection with a particular transporting system.